Good Thursday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
For many people in America and some other countries, this coming weekend is the Labor Day holiday weekend. In many parts of American life this weekend is a significant transition from summer to fall and life for many people will be very different one week from today than it is now.
Sometimes do you wish you could see the future or maybe even rush time ahead? Down through history certain people have occasionally been given by God a clear glimpse into the distant future and they’ve written God’s messages which find fulfillment centuries later. The prophet Isaiah was one of those men and join me again today as we look at his messages in Isaiah 42 written about 690bc and partially fulfilled 700 years later!
God likely spoke these words of future hope to Isaiah during a rapidly darkening time in Jerusalem not long after the death of king Hezekiah: (Isaiah 42:1-4) “Here is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets… In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on the earth…” (Is. 42:1-4)
For discouraged Jews living in the rapidly changing times of king Manasseh, wicked son of king Hezekiah, this sounded like great news IF it meant God might insert Himself in the political/governmental system of the southern kingdom Judah and do away with Manasseh and raise up another wonderful leader like Hezekiah was.
I wonder if you live in a place where you sometimes wish or even pray that God would make a radical change in the leadership of your city or your nation and remove wicked, deceitful, corrupt leaders and replace them with God honoring leaders? But in Isaiah’s day God did not do that, in fact Manasseh was the longest serving king in the history of Israel. It was a prolonged time of 55 years of great suffering for the people of Jerusalem.
700 years later Jerusalem was a city living under the iron fist of Rome with Herod the Great as the paranoid king in Jerusalem. It was into that era of history that God was pointing when He spoke this message of Isaiah 42:1-4. Can you see how Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 42:1-3? In fact, there are four times God spoke similar messages through His prophet Isaiah which pointed forward to the miraculous incarnation of Jesus coming as the Servant Messiah.
In addition to Isaiah 42:1-9 we find this same theme in Isaiah 49:1-13 and again in Isaiah 50:4-11 and again in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. In Isaiah’s day, especially under the terrible leadership of king Manasseh, the Jews prayed earnestly for God to soon send His Messiah and in response to their prayers God sent these messages of hope. But God was careful to NOT include specific predictions of WHEN this Messiah would come.
We see in Isaiah 42:1 God declares this person will be “My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight…” That gave the people hope that they’d be able to recognize this man as someone who clearly had God’s hand of blessing upon Him; and that God would sustain and empower Him; and that His words and behavior would be greatly God honoring. Can you see how that description fits Jesus?
Can you also see Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s prediction of His servant being a man who was tender and compassionate and quiet, (Is. 42:2,3) not at all like the boastful, prideful, arrogant, loud leaders most of the world knew? As predicted by Isaiah, do you remember Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism with John the Baptist? (Luke 3:22) And in Luke 4:16-21 Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 announcing that the Holy Spirit was upon Him. But Jesus did not become a ruling king in the first century and so verse 4 of Isaiah 42 has not yet occurred, has it?
That part of this prophecy of Isaiah is looking forward to the next return of Jesus Christ when He will return to earth as righteous King and establish His millennial kingdom with supreme authority and justice over the entire world, reigning from Jerusalem, as John’s vision in Revelation 20:1-10 explains. That should give hope to us who live in this ever-darkening time of the 21st century!
Let’s look at the second part of Isaiah’s message of hope in Isaiah 42:5 “This is what God the LORD says – the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spread out the earth with all that springs forth from it, who gives breath to its people and life to those who walk on it; ‘I the LORD have called you in righteousness…“
Do we see God here return the focus of His message to Himself and His unique identity, His attributes, His accomplishments and His reach to people with a familiar purpose: to help them BE the people God has designed and desired them to Be, as distinctive from the rest of humanity who reject God’s invitation!
Do you notice God’s righteous invitation to humanity is first and foremost that we BE a holy people turning away from the evil and wickedness which is so pervasive in our world? The apostle Peter reminded first century people of God about this in 1 Peter 1:15 “As obedient children of God, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as HE who called you is holy, so BE holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy because I am holy…”
Friends have you found the Holy Spirit of God continually working to help you and me, God’s people, live our lives VICTORIOUSLY RESISTING the never-ending schemes of the dark kingdom to draw our minds and hearts, our thoughts and attitudes, our choices and behavior AWAY from God’s holiness and into the decadence all around us? How are you and I either partnering with the Holy Spirit DAILY in our lives OR grieving the Holy Spirit as we flounder or drift or waiver back and forth in our moral courage, our integrity, our resolve to remain undefiled by the wickedness all around us?
In closing today let these next promising words of Isaiah strengthen our resolve: “I the LORD…will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” (Is. 42:6,7) Can you see God’s application of this to the people of Isaiah’s day; then the people of the first century in the days of Jesus; and in our day, the age of the church of Jesus worldwide?
In Isaiah’s day, God’s chosen people Israel were to BE this for the watching world. In the first century, the followers of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles were to BE this for the Roman Empire and beyond. And in the years since Acts 2, the global church, each of us and all of us, are to BE the fulfillment of this great promise of God everywhere in the world where we live. Are you? If so, HOW do you see yourself living each phrase of Is. 42:6,7 wherever you live? If NOT, why not? What’s holding you back from living this powerful invitation and promise of God for His people?
Let’s pause right here and engage in some serious reflection. In every place in the world, where God’s people are living in the power of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 42:5-7 should be radically evident and should be making a big difference in their communities, their extended families, even their societies, do you agree?
Here’s a song to help us celebrate this world impacting reality, and I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow as we continue…
Today’s Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-7.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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