Authors note: This webpage is primarily meant for me as I deliver it to my Bible study group via my iPad. As such the formatting can be a bit strange at times. I try to use Bold for scripture and Italic for commentary, but not always consistently.

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 54…

1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.

This chapter is speaking to Israel and to us.
The Gentiles are depicted as a “barren” and “desolate” woman who breaks forth into songs of praise. Israel is depicted as the “married wife” and the Gentiles as estranged from God. In her exile and dispersion, Israel has been destitute, disgraced as a woman who had borne no children. Isaiah calls for singing, however, because of the Lord’s promise of future fruitfulness for the nation. By preaching the gospel, multitudes were converted from idols to the living God. This is a matter of great rejoicing as the bounds of the church were extended.

2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.

The Gentiles would flock to the Church in great numbers. This is still happening in China. In the 1980’s there were estimated to be only 3 million believers in China, out of a population of 981 million people. As you would imagine, information is a bit hard to get out of this communist nation, but as of 2017 their population had grown to 1.386 billion. That’s billion with “b” which astounded me. India actually about that many people too, but we will stick with China for now. And in case you are interested, the world population is 7.8 billion people.
In China, Christianity has been increasing rapidly. Internal surveys indicate approximately 31 million believers, however some international Christian organizations estimate there are tens of millions more, which choose not to publicly identify as such. And the reason they don’t stand up and be recognized as Christians is China has started to crack down on this religion that offers hope to people and that would be poison to the communist state which was designed to replace religion in people’s lives.
By now I would hope that you recognize christianity is the only religion, among all of the others out there, and there’s a bunch of them, it is only religion that offers hope to its sinful brethren. It is the only one that offers forgiveness, too. So you can see its appeal to those that live in a very oppressive country. With the threat of God replacing the state, China is now cracking down harshly, jailing pastors and parishioners, destroying churches with bulldozers and dynamite and replacing the cross and images of Christ with pictures of Chairman Xi. Lately the news had been “Official head of China’s Protestant churches says religions must be purged of ‘Western influences” Mao thought he could actually eliminate religion and replace it with his brand of communism.
By now you may be thinking “That’s nice and all, but what does it have to do with Isaiah 54?” Well, you did notice that Verse 2 said to “Enlarge the place of your tent. How many more curtains do you suppose you are going to need with the addition of up to 100 million Chinese to the tent? I also want you to consider the oppression they are going through. We are not seeing that here yet, but it could very well happen with the turn of the next election. Before you get all stink eyed thinking I am going to talk about politics, I want you to think rather than react emotionally. You have people running for president that are supporting socialism and communism. I have just told you how this is working in Communist China. And from what I am hearing in this election cycle, God is absent from their mouths. You can look all around the world to see how this is playing out in Venezuela, Cuba, much of Africa and most of the Middle East and China. We fool ourselves in thinking that if we elect a bad candidate, we would only see a weaker economy. That has not been the case anywhere else in the world where Communism and Socialism has been invoked. God is in charge, of everything, however that does not make the good ole USA invulnerable to his wrath. If we kick God out of our lives, keep your sackcloth and ashes close to hand and know that this world is not our home.

3 “For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.

Christianity was never just for a handful of people in the holy land, but was available to all mankind everywhere. The church would grow rapidly. Just after the filling of the 120 with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, Peter preached and 3 thousand received the Lord.

Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.”

The Messiah’s future kingdom is to be worldwide, far greater in extent than the former kingdoms of David and Solomon. In the best days of David and Solomon, the Jews extended into the land, about 30 thousand square miles. What God had given His children, the Promised Land, comprised of 300 thousand square miles. The Jews at the height of their might, never fully occupied the land God had given them.

There was a remnant of Jews who were at the earliest the founders of the church. Their seed, few in numbers, would grow before their very eyes. The Jews, who had thought themselves better than the Gentiles, suddenly wanted them to join them in the work.

God showed Peter that he was not to call any man unclean, or unworthy of salvation. Salvation is for whosoever will. The missionary trips of Paul set up churches in these spiritually desolate cities spoken of here.

4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Israel’s sins brought on the Egyptian captivity, the Babylonian exile, and her current dispersion, but the glories of the future kingdom will be so great that they will overshadow past failures.

Israel had committed spiritual adultery and God had, in a sense, given them a bill of divorcement. He, like Hosea, kept forgiving them and taking them back as His wife. Their times away from God were during their captivity. He would always come and rescue them, and take them back.

Hosea 3:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

This is just saying that they are back in right standing with God, and they are not to remember the bad times. Now that they are free, they will forget the times of bondage.

5 “For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.

We know that Jesus Christ is the “Groom of the bride of Christ”. The church is His bride. God of the whole earth means God of the Gentiles, the same as of the Jews. All of the names: Maker, Redeemer, LORD of hosts, and Holy One of Israel are speaking of the One we know as Jesus.

6 “For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.

They had been cast off of God, because of their unfaithfulness. Their relationship with God is likened to the wife of a man’s youth. They had been saddened, because they felt that God had given up on them, but now they are restored.
He has forgiven them, and they are again His wife.

7 “For a brief moment I forsook you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.

God does not count time the way we do. He thinks of the few years of their captivity as a very short time, possibly moments. He shows mercy to them, because He loves them.
That is a concept that we have a very hard time understanding, how God counts time. And for us it comes down to patience and faith. Do we have the faith that God will do what He says He will do and will we have the patience to wait for that to happen? When we pray, we want an answer to our prayers now. Clay demanding of the Potter again. The Bible has 71 occurrences of the word Patience within it and its most predominant use is God having patience with us or losing His patience with us. Here we thought it was all about us having patience, but you can see how important it is for our Creator to not run out of patience with us.

Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

8 “In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.

God allowed them to be captured and stay in captivity to teach them to seek Him. God does not stay angry with His people. He is so very forgiving and kind, that He sets a plan in motion where they will be forgiven while they are yet in sin. They are not sinless, just forgiven. The Redeemer is Jesus Christ.

9 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor will I rebuke you.

Just as God swore He would never again judge the whole earth with a flood (Gen. 8:21; 9:11), so He has taken an oath never to be angry with His people again. He will fulfill this promise after their final restoration. God set the rainbow in the sky to remind them of the covenant God had made with man to never flood the entire world again. God’s Word is good. He does what He says. If He says He forgives, He does.

10 “For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you,
And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.

In the Millennium, topography of the earth will change (see Ezekiel 38:20; Mica 1:4; Zech. 14:4, 10), but not God’s pledge of well being for Israel as a result of the New Covenant.
We know that God does exactly what He says. He regards His Word above His name even.

Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

God’s Word is absolute. He is a merciful God.

Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

11 “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.

This elaborate ornamentation will outfit Jerusalem to be the center of the future, eternal messianic reign following the Millennium. We find a description of this in Revelations.

Rev. 21:18-21 The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

As magnificent as this is, it is not as important as the spiritual richness of the kingdom, when truth and peace (verse 13), prevail along with righteousness (verse 14).
The Lord Himself will teach everyone during the messianic kingdom, so everyone will know His righteousness.

Jer. 31:34 They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Jesus gave this verse an additional focus, applying it to those with spiritual insight to come to Him during His first advent.

John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

12 “Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.

13 “All your sons will be taught of the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.

Hebrews 8:10-12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:” “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

14 “In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.

Where there is righteousness, there is perfect peace also. In the New Jerusalem there will be no danger and nothing to fear. Even death itself has been defeated. There is no temptation to sin.

Revelation 21:1-4 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

15 “If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.
Whoever assails you will fall because of you.

God is the very present help of all His people. Those who are opposed to God’s people are actually against God. They will not win, because God will take up the battle.

16 “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals
And brings out a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to ruin.

God is the Creator of all, even Lucifer. Everything God created is under His command. Not anything can do you harm, because it has to obey God, whatever it is. Satan (Lucifer), has to get God’s permission to do anything. God will not allow it, so he cannot do it.
Everything is at peace in New Jerusalem, because of the presence of God. There will be no darkness at all, because the Light of the world is there.

1 John 1:5 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

17 “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;
And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.

God is the protector of all of Israel. He protects His family. Though they come against us, they will not prosper. This promise is for all who believe in Jesus our Savior. We have been given power and authority to use the name of Jesus against the enemy. At that name, every knee must bow.

Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

All Glory to God the Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 53

The Suffering Servant
1 Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

The implied answer is not all or none. We find in Romans 10:16 Paul says “However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?””

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

One of the reasons why the Jews, his own people, rejected him, because he came as a humble carpenter and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He grew up among them, they knew his father Joseph. How is it this man can suddenly talk in such a way and refer to himself as the Son of God.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Nowhere in all the Old Testament is it so plainly and fully prophesied that Christ ought to suffer, and then to enter into his glory, as in this chapter. To this day few will acknowledge that Divine power which goes with the word. The authentic and most important report of salvation for sinners, through the Son of God, is disregarded.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.

How is it the Son of God, who is God, who had been given all authority to judge the quick and the dead, this Holy God would submit to this usage? It must be known that his griefs and miseries were not laid upon him for his own sake, but wholly for the sake of sinful men, in whose stead he stood, and for whose sins he suffered.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

This is an account of the sufferings of Christ; also of the design of his sufferings. It was for our sins, and in our stead, that our Lord Jesus suffered. We have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God. Sinners have their beloved sin, their own evil way, of which they are fond. Our sins deserve all griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. We are saved from the ruin, to which by sin we become liable, by laying our sins on Christ. This atonement was to be made for our sins. And this is the only way of salvation. Our sins were the thorns in Christ’s head, the nails in his hands and feet, the spear in his side. He was delivered to death for our offences. By his sufferings he purchased for us the Spirit and grace of God, to mortify our corruptions, which are the afflictions of our souls. We may well endure our lighter sufferings, if He has taught us to esteem all things but loss for him, and to love him who has first loved us.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

The confession of repentant Israel (Psalm 119:176), of repentant humanity (1Peter 2:25), was also the thought present to the mind of the Servant, as in

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.

He neither murmured against God for giving him up to suffer for other men’s sins, nor reviled men for punishing him without cause, nor used apologies or endeavours to save his own life; but willingly and quietly accepted the punishment of our iniquity, manifesting, through the whole scene of his unparalleled sufferings, the most exemplary patience and meekness, and the most ready and cheerful compliance with his heavenly Father’s will.
Benson Commentary

8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

Jesus appeared in so humble a form, that, though Pilate was convinced of his innocence, he seemed a person of so little importance that it would not be worthwhile to hazard anything to preserve him.

9 His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Although he did not die for his own sins, but only for those of mankind, yet he was willing to die like a criminal, or like a sinner, as all other men are, and to be put into a grave, a pauper’s tomb, which was a further degree of his humiliation. It was said, he made his grave, because this was Christ’s own act, and he willingly yielded himself up to death and burial.

10 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

His God and Father spared him not, though he was his only and beloved Son, but delivered him up for us all, to shame and torture, delivered him by his determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.

Come, and see how Christ loved us! We could not put him in our stead, but he put himself there. Thus he took away the sin of the world, by taking it on himself. He made himself subject to death, which to us is the wages of sin.

12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

This last verse pretty much explains itself. He chose this death willingly and was nailed to a cross with the criminals. But this selfless act was not for himself, but for us. And as such, if we accept Christ as our Savior and King, we will reside with Him in Heaven, forever.

We find in our day the pressure of the government, the education system and social whims or our current culture, and I stress the word whims, for it is just a few satan inspired voices that lead the rest of the virtue signalling goats to join in the condemnation of our Christian way of life.

And if we look at our Christian way of life closely, it is not all that healthy to begin with. This week, it turns out that The lead Pastor of a couple of Methodist churches in MN was said to have told the older members of Cottage Grove campus to stay home.

Now, I am not automatically believing what the media tells me on these kinds of things or anything else for that matter, so I did some looking into it. Turns out this Cottage Grove campus has not been doing well. They were down to 30 members and no pastor, so the members were doing the church service on their own. It is the typical story of what once was a strong church, with believers and their families, and as time moved on, so did their kids. With the usual losses due to lack of faith, old age and disease, a couple of decades later they are down to 30 members and no pastor. The leadership of Grove United Methodist Church took a vote and decided to change some things.The plan is to shut down the church in June and reopen later this year with a new pastor, new programming and building updates “aimed at engaging more members of a growing community.” Then comes the unhappy part.
A memo recommends that current members stay away for two years, then consult with the pastor about reapplying, the Pioneer Press reported.

While older members will not be physically barred from attending, the expectation is that they will not.

“We are asking them to let this happen,” Wetterstrom said. “For this to be truly new, we can’t have the core group of 30 people.”

https://www.fox19.com/2020/01/23/minn-church-says-it-never-asked-older-church-members-leave/

What the Leadership of this organization is looking for is newer, younger members. Bodies, not souls. This has been a common theme and problem, these seeker friendly churches who are so accepting of anyone and everyone that happens to fall into their preferred demographic. That in itself is not a problem, people should be welcomed to a church. Jesus accepted all who were contrite of heart when he was on this earth. Contrition is the key however, to those new members being welcomed into the church. Come as you are, but don’t expect to leave in that same condition. You may be drug addicted, think you are gay, lesbian, transgendered, or what have you, and the job of the church is to talk to you about your sin. To come alongside you and help you through these troubled times. Jesus saves, but you must acknowledge your sins and repent. Contrition.
And once you have a contrite heart, you must put away those sins. Otherwise it is just your mouth saying it but your heart not buying it.

God calls us to the pursuit of holiness. It is on us to remove the sin in our lives. There are people out there that profess to believe that it is God’s job to remove all our iniquities, not them. He sent his Son to die on a cross, so that we might have life eternal. These people need to step up the plate and clean their own house, so to speak.

Accepting Jesus does not mean your addiction or mental delusions will magically disappear. Not saying it can’t happen, but most of the time you have to work at getting satan out of your life. He had a comfy home there, he’s not going to let you kick him out easily.

Matthew 12:43-45 43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Getting back to this church in Cottage Grove, it is hard not to look at this and shake your head. It sounds as if they’ve already given in to the demands of this world. Churches become meeting places for like minded people, not houses of God. Our little church in Grove City just added something to their constitution that states you will not be married in our church if you are anything other than a man marrying a woman, both of them born that way and not claiming to be anything different. Is this going to stop misguided people from trying to enforce their will on our little church? Hard to say, but I do believe the good times are over.

If you are wondering the why of any of this, the answer is in Romans 1:24-32
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,

27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;

32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Further reading can be found in:
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13
Romans 1:26-27

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 34:3)

All Glory to God our Father

Let us turn to Isaiah 52

1 Awake, awake,
Clothe yourself in your strength, O Zion;
Clothe yourself in your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
Will no longer come into you.

We find in Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
This is the Church asking YHWH (How the Hebrews referred to their Creator) to awaken and see to their plight. Which is a lot like the clay making demands to the Potter in Jeremiah 18 and God turns this around and tells them WAKE UP from your drunkenness and clothe yourself in your in garments of Honor and Glory provided by the Lord. The foreign invaders will no longer control the city at the time of the final restoration.
So a double meaning here. God is talking about Babylon and also the Second Coming of our Messiah. Keep in mind that these prophets are probably wondering at the meanings coming out of their own mouths. They are being given parts of the puzzle and may have had insight as to what the message was, but not everything. And that is a very good example of Faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11: 1
The kind of faith that we should have that God will provide our daily bread. And bread is symbolic of those things we need in our everyday life. Food, medicine, companionship, our needs are many and God knows them all. Faith tells us that we trust in God and He will sustain us.
Another aspect of this gift for God is we are told that we have been forgiven our sins if we have accepted our Savior and King, but that takes Faith to believe it, too. Our flesh is weak and prone to remembering all those sins, the great deceiver is very diligent at pushing those sins in our faces, as if to say “no, you weren’t really forgiven.”

I mentioned last week that the citizens of Jerusalem were prone to taking council of their fears. To be down in the mouth and morose at the consequence of their sins.

2 Shake yourself from the dust, rise up,
O captive Jerusalem;
Loose yourself from the chains around your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.

To sit on the ground, to sit in the dust, is an expression descriptive of mourning Job 2:13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Jerusalem is here called on to arise and shake off the dust, as indicating that the days of her grief were ended, and that she was about to be restored to her former beauty and splendor.

One thing to keep in mind is Isaiah is speaking of the future here. He is talking about the conquest of Jerusalem that happen around 587 BC. The approximate date at which he speaks this passage is about 650 BC.

Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck – Jerusalem had been a captive, and confined as a prisoner. She is now called on to cast off these chains from her neck, and to be again at liberty. In captivity, chains or bands were attached to various parts of the body. They were usually affixed to the wrists or ankles, but it would seem also that sometimes collars were affixed to the neck. The idea is, that the Jews, who had been so long held captive, were about to be released, and restored to their own land. Once again, released from Babylon from which they had been captured due to their iniquities and then also when Jesus comes to rule as King, released from the bondaged of their sin of denying The Son of God as their Savior.

3 For thus says the Lord, “You were sold for nothing and you will be redeemed without money.”

The people had complained that God had “sold them” into the hands of their enemies Psalm 44:12 You have sold your people for a trifle, demanding no high price for them. “Not so,” is the answer from God. “There was no real sale, only a temporary transfer, and therefore Jehovah can redeem you at His own pleasure.

4 For thus says the Lord God, “My people went down at the first into Egypt to reside there; then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.

When in Egypt they had protection and sustenance, and therefore owed subjection to the king of Egypt. And yet when he oppressed them God punished him severely, and delivered them out of his hands. And the Assyrian oppressed them, the king of Babylon, who is called the king of Assyria, (2 Kings 23:29,) as also the Persian emperor is called, (Ezra 6:22,) because it was one and the same empire which was possessed, first by the Assyrians, then by the Babylonians, and afterward by the Persians.

Remembering in history, how often the Assyrian has oppressed them also, without cause. Remember the history of Sennacherib, Tiglath-pileser, and Salmaneser, and how they have laid the land waste, and remember also how He has delivered it from these oppressions. With the same certainty, and the same ease, He can deliver the people from the captivity at Babylon. Isaiah refers to different periods and events; and the idea is, that God had delivered them when they had been oppressed alike by the Egyptian, and by the Assyrians, and that he who had so often interposed would also rescue them from their oppression in Babylon.

5 Now therefore, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without cause?” Again the Lord declares, “Those who rule over them howl, and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

And my name continually every day is blasphemed – That is talking about Babylon. The proud and oppressive Babylonians loved to add to the sorrows of the exiles by reproaching the name of their God, and by saying that he was unable to defend them and their city from ruin. This is the third reason why God would interpose to rescue them. The three reasons in this verse are, that they had been taken away for nought; that they were suffering grievous and painful oppression; and that the name of God was reproached. On all these accounts he felt that he had something to do in Babylon, and that his interposition was demanded.

6 Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, ‘Here I am.’”

In that day; when He shall redeem His people: which work was begun by the return of the Jews from Babylon, and afterwards carried on, and at last perfected, by the coming of the Messiah.

7 How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
They shout joyfully together;
For they will see with their own eyes
When the Lord restores Zion.

9 Break forth, shout joyfully together,
You waste places of Jerusalem;
For the Lord has comforted His people,
He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The Lord has bared His holy arm
In the sight of all the nations,
That all the ends of the earth may see
The salvation of our God.

The gospel proclaims liberty to those bound with fears. Let those weary and heavy laden under the burden of sin, find relief in Christ, shake themselves from the dust of their doubts and fears, and loose themselves from those bands. The price paid by the Redeemer for our salvation, was not silver or gold, or corruptible things, but his own precious blood.

11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
Touch nothing unclean;
Go out of the midst of her, purify yourselves,
You who carry the vessels of the Lord.

The context points to a great deliverance. It is a good example of the prophetical habit of casting prophecies of the future into the mold of the past.

12 But you will not go out in haste,
Nor will you go as fugitives;
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Depart ye, depart ye – This is a direct address to the exiles in their captivity. The same command occurs in Isaiah 48:20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, proclaim this, Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”

It is repeated here for the sake of emphasis; and the urgency of the command implies that there was some delay likely on the part of the exiles themselves. Many of them had become strongly attached to living in Babylon and not all that enthused to going back home. Most of those who were made captive would have died before the close of the exile. Their children, who constituted the generation to whom the command to return would be addressed, would have known the land of their fathers only by report. And since it had been sacked by the Babylonians, why go back to a ruined land.

The Exalted Servant
13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.

This is the beginning of a new prophecy. From Isaiah chapter 40 to here has been a message of deliverance of the people of God. This includes in it three distinct parts: the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity of Babylon, the deliverance of the Gentiles from their miserable state of ignorance and idolatry, and the deliverance of mankind from the captivity of sin and death.

Cyrus is expressly named as the immediate agent of God in effecting the first deliverance. A greater person is spoken of as the agent who is to effect the two latter deliverances, called the Servant, the Elect, of God, in whom his soul delighteth. Now these three subjects have a very close relation to one another; for, as the agent who was to effect the two latter deliverances, that being the Messiah, was to be born a Jew, with interesting limitations of time, family, and other circumstances, the first deliverance was necessary in the order of providence, and, according to the determinate counsel of God, to the accomplishment of the two latter deliverances; and the second deliverance was necessary to the third, or, rather, was involved in it, and made an essential part of it. (Benson Commentary)

14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man
And His form more than the sons of men.

Here begins that wonderful and faithful description of the office, character, and glory of the Messiah, which has struck conviction to many of the most hardened unbelievers. Christ is Wisdom itself; in the work of our redemption there appeared the wisdom of God in a mystery. Those that saw him, said, Surely never man looked so miserable: never was sorrow like unto his sorrow. But God highly exalted him. That shall be discovered by the gospel of Christ, which could never be told in any other way. And Christ having once shed his blood for sinners, its power still continues. May all opposers see the wisdom of ceasing from their opposition, and be made partakers of the blood of sprinkling, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost; obeying him, and praising his salvation. (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary)

15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.

The “sprinkling” is that of the priest who cleanses the leper (Leviticus 4:6; Leviticus 4:17), and this was to be done by Him who was Himself counted as a leper “smitten of God”

The kings shall shut their mouths . The reverence, as in Isaiah 49:7, Job 29:9; Job 40:4, is that of silent wonder at the change which has passed over the suffering Servant. Wisdom Of Solomon 5:1-5 presents an interesting parallel, the reference there being to the person of the ideal righteous sufferer. In that case, as in this, there was, so to speak, a transfiguration “beyond all that men looked for.”

And the last 2 verses are marked change from Isaiah 6:9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

All of which points to “Keep yourself ready for that day, for we do not know the hour. Love one another and accept the joy that is waiting for you to embrace, that we might be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Our home is not here nor should we long for the things of this world. We are children of God, and our inheritance is waiting in heaven. Be patient and waiting with great hope and expectation.

I listened to an interesting Sermon by John MacArthur on Monday. It was on Paul talking to the Galatians.
We find in Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

And in the course of things Paul schools them in righteousness. Tells them when the flesh is in control, and it is obvious. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing.” And that’s not an exhaustive list, and so he adds, “and things like these,” which is kind of an et cetera.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” The fruit of the Spirit is put in the singular because it is a virtue, it is not a list from which you pick. You don’t say, “Well today I’m going to show joy. Next Tuesday I may show gentleness. Couple days after that I may try to love somebody.” Doesn’t work like that. This is not a list.
You can do that in your sin. You can say, “Tomorrow I’m going to be impure, and then I’m going to go to a party and tell some lies, and then I’m going to get drunk.” I mean, you can plan your sin; it comes in bits and pieces. But when you walk in the Spirit, it comes as a package.
So sin is a list to choose from, but virtue is produced collectively.

The point I am coming to is of this package of virtues, Love and Joy is what I want to talk about. Love is first in the list because love is the greatest, according to 1 Corinthians 13. It’s the word agapē, familiar word from the verb agapaō. It is love, “to love,” and “love at the highest level.” This is the supreme word for the noblest of loves. There are other words for love that speak of friendship, and marital love, and even an erōs kind of love. But this is the word that speaks of the noblest kind of love, and this is the kind of love that is characteristic of God

What is love like? “Love is patient,” – verse 4 – “love is kind, is not jealous; love doesn’t brag, is not arrogant, doesn’t act unbecomingly; it doesn’t seek its own, is not provoked, doesn’t take into account a wrong suffered, doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;” – and then – “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” That’s the nature of love.

And Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This is the love that is the noblest love of all loves. It means you seek only the best for everyone around you. You endure anything and everything. You believe the best about everyone. You speak the best about everyone. You sacrifice yourself even to the point of giving up your life for others. This is the essence of agapé love.

John 15:12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another,” – said Jesus – “just as I have loved you. I want you to love the way I have just loved you.” How had He just loved them? By washing their dirty feet.

And then we have Joy. What is its nature? It’s not superficial. It’s not related to circumstances. It’s not the kind of joy that you feel when something good comes along in your life. It’s joy unrelated to shifting circumstances. It’s joy that has nothing to do with whether you’re healthy or sick, nothing to do with whether you’re alone or in a crowd, nothing to do with whether you are paid enough or not enough, nothing to do with whether you have enough food or not enough food; not related whatsoever to whether your circumstances are positive or negative; not related at all to whether you have trouble in your life. No, this word is not related to that.
The word related to that is “happy.” Happy is related to the word “happen,” which is related to “happenstance.” Happy means you like the circumstances you’re in. We understand that. This is not that, this is chara. This is deep down, settled joy. This is miles below the surface of the troubled sea. This is in the dead calm of the depth of your soul. It doesn’t move, it’s unassailable, it’s immovable. It’s the deep-seated joy that provides for you constant – listen to these words – constant satisfaction and contentment.
Jesus actually said in John 15:11, “My joy I give you; you have My joy.” The very joy that the Son possesses in the promise of the Father, we possess in the promise of the Son.

I have to say that since I have accepted Christ, I have experienced this Joy. And it is not a heady emotional kind of thing that is always talked about. What it is to me is contentment with my circumstances, happiness that transcends my growing inability to care for myself or to be self sufficient to any extent. I have no worries, none. I know God is in charge of all, and there is no downside to what the future holds. And that Joy is available to everyone of you. If what I just described doesn’t sound like much, I have to tell you, that not having any worries or concerns and waking up content each morning is a very great blessing to me. As for Love, I can do that kind of Love that was described. I can think the best of people, I can listen to their troubles, help them when they need help, hope the best for them, not be judgmental. I was concerned that Love was what I knew, between family or husband and wife. No, this is a greater Love. Think about these things. They are important and they will have an impact on those around you. And that’s really the point.

All Glory to God the Father.

Let us turn to Isaiah 51

1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the quarry from which you were dug.

Isaiah is addressing the godly Jews, those that believed and looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. Of which there were not all that many of them. They had been influenced by their godless leaders. The tribes of Israel, their neighbors, which had fallen into idolatry and had been carried off into slavery and submission by Assyria (722-721 BC), never to return. We remember from last week’s Chapter 50 that God had issued a writ of divorce to Israel. That was referenced in Jeremiah 3:8. And her sister Judah had gotten haughty, seeing their defiled sister being kicked out while they remained; now they started to play the harlot. However there are always some that listen to God and adhere to his ways. It is the same now as in Isaiah’s day. I think we have many more distractions now than the Jews ever did. Instant communication is a blessing and a curse.
Looking at the second half of verse one, the rock you were hewn from and quarry from which you were dug. The Jews being a practical people and one that loved using similes. The rock refers to Abraham and the quarry refers to Sarah. They were very proud of being of Abraham’s. Infact, I think most of them were pretty sure that by claiming Abraham, they thought they had an easy in to heaven. Such was not the case. Matthew 3:7-10 John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, addresses a group of Pharisees and Sadducees.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Oh how we could use a man like that today. Read verse 8 to yourselves again and ponder it. For the ax is already laid at the root of the tree.

2 “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him.”

God is calling to mind that HE took one man and made him the father of all Jews. And He did it when Abraham and Sarah were well, and I mean well beyond childbearing years. We also have the birth of Ishmael by Hagar, before Isaac. Ishmael is counted as the father of the Arab tribes.
We also have a reference to Genesis 3, God putting curse on Woman. Multiplied pain in childbirth. And Adam got cursed because he listened to his wife. Which plays out in our lives with just a bit of tenison, now and then, in married life. Your mileage may vary.

3 Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion;
He will comfort all her waste places.
And her wilderness He will make like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the Lord;
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

4 “Pay attention to Me, O My people,
And give ear to Me, O My nation;
For a law will go forth from Me,
And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples.

The gospel of Christ shall be preached and published. How shall we escape if we neglect it? There is no salvation without righteousness. The soul shall, as to this world, vanish like smoke, and the body be thrown by like a worn-out garment. But those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness. From Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary.

5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth,
And My arms will judge the peoples;
The coastlands will wait for Me,
And for My arm they will wait expectantly.

God is always near. That is something that we tend to forget when our lives go south. It is not possible to live a charmed life with nothing to stir you up. Where would God be if you could do it all yourself? Job is a good example. He had a good life. Wealth, wisdom, children to pass everything on to. He is held as our example of when life throws you a curveball. When he got news of the death of all his children, he fell on his knees and said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:20
This has been something that I have latched on to, and I am so thankful that the Bible gave me the very phrase to repeat, when it is truly needed. When that metaphoric piano falls out of the sky and land somewhere in your life, God is there. This is not our home, heaven, with Jesus is. And He went there to prepare it for us. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3
My wife made a comment to me the other day. She said she had heard many people angry at death or cancer or something like that. If you believe, truly believe, how could it be such? Oh death, where is thy sting?
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55
Jesus conquered death and sin. And yet we forget. Oh fatih, where art thou? God created you, knows the hairs on your head, Luke 12:7. Death and cancer have no power over the Lord. God is the rock onto which we cling. Now the real tragedy that we can be in sorrow over is losing a friend or loved one that is not a believer. This is why He commands us to go out and spread the good news. You don’t want to lose anyone you love to eternal damnation, so tell them about our Messiah and Savior. It is not up to us to save anyone. That’s God’s job. But you might think to yourselves, “Oh, I am too old.” Let me remind you that Abraham and Sarah had a child at an advanced age. Abraham was a just a year or two younger than Leroy Johnson who went to Jesus at 103 and Sarah was about Carol Nelson’s age. You are never to old to do God’s work.

6 “Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not wane.

7 “Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Nor be dismayed at their revilings.
8 “For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness will be forever,
And My salvation to all generations.”

Those who have God’s law written in their hearts vs those carnal Jews whose laws are written on mere stone tablets. Let not the mewlings of the idol-loving countrymen concern you. Those whose happiness is in Christ’s righteousness and salvation, will have the comfort of it when time and days shall be no more. Clouds darken the sun, but do not stop its course. The believer will enjoy his portion, while revilers of Christ are in darkness

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord;
Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.
Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces,
Who pierced the dragon?

Isaiah appeals to God on behalf of his people, to exert his power as He did in former times. That hath cut Rahab – That is, cut it in pieces, or destroyed it. It was that arm which wielded the sword of justice and of vengeance by which Rahab was cut in pieces. The word ‘Rahab’ here means Egypt.

10 Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?

Art thou not it – Art thou not still the same? The crux of the appeal is that the same arm that dried up the sea, and made a path for the Jewish people, was still able to intervene and rescue them.
Which hath dried the sea – The Red Sea when the children of Israel passed over Exodus 14:21. This is the common illustration to which the Hebrew prophets and poets speak of, when they wish to refer to the interposition of God in favor of their nation

11 So the ransomed of the Lord will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
And everlasting joy will be on their heads.
They will obtain gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies
And of the son of man who is made like grass,

We whose lives are but a puff of breeze on a warm summer day, whose home is not here, but with our Father in Heaven. What do we have to worry about when we are children of God and inherit our place in heaven? A God that loves us so much that he sent his only begotten Son to die on the cross, thereby removing the sting of death to us, We just have to have Faith. Ask and it will be given to you. Matthew 7:7

13 That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker,
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth,
That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor,
As he makes ready to destroy?
But where is the fury of the oppressor?

These verses are designed to rebuke that state of the mind, all too common, even among the people of God – where they are intimidated by the number and strength of their foes, and forget their dependence on God, and his promises of aid. In such circumstances God reproves them for their lack of confidence in him, and calls on them to remember that he has made the heavens, and has all power to save them.

14 The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.

15 For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).

Isaiah has been telling them they are about to be carried off into captivity, whether any of them understood that is not known. But he is also telling them that God will not let them wither on the vine.

16 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.’”

He had committed his truth to the Jewish people; to Zion. He had entrusted them with his statutes and his laws; he had given them the promise of the Messiah, and through him the assurance that the true religion would be spread to other nations. He would, therefore, preserve them, and restore them again to their own land.

17 Rouse yourself! Rouse yourself! Arise, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk from the Lord’s hand the cup of His anger;
The chalice of reeling you have drained to the dregs.

Those hard headed, stiff necked Jews are being called to awaken from sin and cast off the despondency and despair that comes from drinking deeply from God’s chalice of anger. When the Jews were in captivity they were so overwhelmed with the sense of their troubles that they had no heart left to mind any thing that tended to their comfort or relief; and therefore when the deliverance came, they were said to be like them that dream. Psalm 126:1 A Song of Ascents. When the LORD brought back the captive ones of Zion, We were like those who dream.

18 There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne,
Nor is there one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has reared.

Neither princes, nor prophets, nor priests were able or willing to lead out of their misery.

19 These two things have befallen you;
Who will mourn for you?
The devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
How shall I comfort you?
The city of Jerusalem had suffered not only property (devastation and destruction) but life and limb (famine and sword).

20 Your sons have fainted,
They lie helpless at the head of every street,
Like an antelope in a net,
Full of the wrath of the Lord,
The rebuke of your God.

The inhabitants lay helpless in the streets, having expended all their strength in fighting against God’s wrath. And I am pretty convinced we have not learned that lesson yet.

21 Therefore, please hear this, you afflicted,
Who are drunk, but not with wine:

22 Thus says your Lord, the Lord, even your God
Who contends for His people,
“Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of reeling,
The chalice of My anger;
You will never drink it again.

This verse contains a promise that they would be delivered from the effect of the wrath of God, under which they had been suffering so long.
Thou shalt no more drink it again – Thou shalt no more be subject to similar trials and calamities. Probably the idea here is, not that Jerusalem would never be again destroyed, which would not be true, for it was afterward subjected to severer trials under the Romans; but that the people who should then return – the pious exiles – should be preserved forever after from similar sufferings. Isaiah is trying to console them, and this he does by the assurance that they should be subjected to such trials no more.

23 “I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
Who have said to you, ‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’
You have even made your back like the ground
And like the street for those who walk over it.”

But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict you – The nations that have made war upon you, and that have reduced you to bondage, particularly the Babylonians. The calamities which the Jews had suffered, God would transfer to their foes.
Which have said to you, Bow down, that we may go over – This is a striking description of the pride of eastern conquerors. It was not uncommon for conquerors actually to put their feet on the necks of conquered kings, and tread them in the dust.

Isaiah concludes this chapter with news that should hearten some, those that listen. And it should hearten us too. Surely God’s chalice of anger will come upon us. We, who have turned from God, kicked Him out of our Government, out of our Schools and are pressuring our churches to bow to the whims of a pagan and carnal society, we will drink from that chalice of wrath and feel remorse and abandonment from our Creator. However, if we repent and accept His Son as our Savior and King, this cup will pass too, And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7