Scripture Text: Isaiah 49:1-52:12
Memory Verse: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” —Isaiah 52:7
Introduction:
Even though God’s remnant was delivered from Babylonian exile long ago, the world today is still being “spiritually” delivered from Babylon (the humanistic, paganistic, world system). These chapters in Isaiah present God’s Servant, the Messiah, in three important ways:
- The Servant and the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:1-50:3)
- The Servant and the Lord God (Isaiah 50:4-11)
- The Servant and Israel (Isaiah 51:1-52:12)
Isaiah has prophesied God’s Words and Will to His people, telling them to return to God and be delivered out of Babylon. God would supernaturally provide for them, and bring them back to the Promised Land. But there was another kind of deliverance that would still need to take place. Having been delivered from Babylon, the people needed to have Babylon delivered “out of” them. How could these sinful, rebellious people ever serve a just and holy God? He can’t merely forget about their sin—they can’t continue on in the same manner that alienated them from the Lord in the first place.
The answer to this question is found in Isaiah 49-55. The kind of captivity being addressed here is a spiritual one, and the Servant of the Lord, who was first introduced in Isaiah 42:1-9, will be for Israel what they could never be for themselves.
In Isaiah 49:1-52:12, God insists again and again that He has not cast His people off. The Divine Shepherd is not willing to let His people go. A special “way” has been planned out for them—a provision beyond their wildest imagining. A Servant will be given to them—not just one humble enough to do the work, but with the authority and qualifications for the arduous task. He will be given not only for Israel, but for the restoring of the world. He will not just bring a message, but “the message,”—the Lion of Judah, the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world!
Studying the Word
- Why was God’s Servant to also be a light for the Gentiles? (Isaiah 49:6; Genesis 28:14; Psalm 22:27; Jeremiah 3:17; Ephesians 2:11-18; 3:6)
- Discuss the significance of the “spiritual highway” free of all obstacles that God has made for all who will come. (Isaiah 49:11; Proverbs 16:17; Isaiah 35:8; Jeremiah 18:15)
- In light of God’s constancy with His people (Isaiah 49:14-5:3), is God’s rod of chastening applied from love, or from anger, or both? (Deuteronomy 8:5; Proverbs 3:11-12; Jeremiah 10:4; Lamentations 3:32; 1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:7-11)
- Is the moving of God ever late? (Isaiah 51:9-10; Deuteronomy 32:4; Ecclesiastes 3:14)
- When God brings the remnant of His people back from exile to Jerusalem, what does He plan to do with Babylon? (Isaiah 51:22-23)
- In Isaiah 51, the people cry for God to wake up. Who really needs to awaken? (Isaiah 52:1-2; Romans 13:11-14; 1 Corinthians 15:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:6)
- What does our sinful behavior witness to the world? (Isaiah 52:5-6; Ezekiel 36:19-20; Ephesians 5:25-27)
- What do we experience when we acknowledge His sovereignty, awake from our sinful ways, and renew our covenant with God? (Isaiah 7-12; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 22:26; Revelation 3:10, 21)