It feels odd to be reading about restoring Jerusalem before it’s fallen, but there we are - my reading plan is following the conservative view of Isaiah’s dating.
Israel, a light to the nations
Isaiah 49:1-7
Restoration of Jerusalem
Isaiah 49:8-26, 50:1-3
Obedience of the Lord’s servant
Isaiah 50:4-11
The faithful encouraged
Isaiah 51:1-16
The end of Jerusalem’s suffering
Isaiah 51:17-23
God will rescue Jerusalem
Isaiah 52:1-12
The suffering servant
Isaiah 52:13-15
The shadowy figure of the servant makes another appearance today, with a reminder again of God’s reach extending far beyond the borders of Israel. This figure is to be “ a light for the Gentiles” (49:6).
With wonderful, powerful poetry, Isaiah assures broken and dispirited people that God still loves them, that he will care for them and bring them back to health and wholeness. This language of tender love wasn’t really there in teh Exodus years - Moses was stern with the people - but Isaiah brings out a motherly streak.
He empathises with the people’s suffering, and even his depiction of the servant takes on more and more overtones of pain. It’s like an artist, deepening and darkening the sketch of a face he is drawing with every brushstroke, marking in more lines of pain. This servant - he is acquainted with grief, he is not remote and uncaring, as a salvation figure it is his very pain that brings healing.
Israel, a light to the nations
Isaiah 49:1-7
Restoration of Jerusalem
Isaiah 49:8-26, 50:1-3
Obedience of the Lord’s servant
Isaiah 50:4-11
The faithful encouraged
Isaiah 51:1-16
The end of Jerusalem’s suffering
Isaiah 51:17-23
God will rescue Jerusalem
Isaiah 52:1-12
The suffering servant
Isaiah 52:13-15
The shadowy figure of the servant makes another appearance today, with a reminder again of God’s reach extending far beyond the borders of Israel. This figure is to be “ a light for the Gentiles” (49:6).
With wonderful, powerful poetry, Isaiah assures broken and dispirited people that God still loves them, that he will care for them and bring them back to health and wholeness. This language of tender love wasn’t really there in teh Exodus years - Moses was stern with the people - but Isaiah brings out a motherly streak.
He empathises with the people’s suffering, and even his depiction of the servant takes on more and more overtones of pain. It’s like an artist, deepening and darkening the sketch of a face he is drawing with every brushstroke, marking in more lines of pain. This servant - he is acquainted with grief, he is not remote and uncaring, as a salvation figure it is his very pain that brings healing.
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