Isaiah Chapter 49 Verses 14 – 16
Thick Messianic prophecy there, right? God has essentially tattooed
His own covenant into the palms of His hands. No doubt that was the
thought then but we look back to the cross of Christ and know that this
was a prophecy, (this chapter all together), of the Savior that would
come, serve us and the Father, be hated and rejected of men, and give
His life on the cross for the justice and the forgiveness of sin!
And we will see these marks one day. After resurrecting Jesus said in
John 20:27, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and
reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving,
but believing!”
Isaiah Chapter 49 Verses 17 – 23
Fulfilled by Pharoah in the 13 th century BC. Fulfilled when the Persian
Cyrus the Great ended the exile in 538 BC. Fulfilled by the nations of
the world on May 14 th , 1948…
Isaiah Chapter 49 Verses 24 – 26
Why? Why all these things and promises upon this people? Not really
anything to do with them but everything to do with the Word of God.
Word is bond in us, and you and I are only as good as our word…,
how much more a holy and perfect God!? All of these things will
accomplish. All of these things and all of God’s Word and as we learn
and observe time and time again God’s incessant perfection in His
Word…, all flesh (that’s me and you) if we are paying attention, will
progressively grow in our own faith and knowledge of God as Savior,
Redeemer and the Mighty One!
Isiaah Chapter 50 Verse 1
I love this because the implication is that even though this people has
been full of wrong and all kinds of rebellion, God hasn’t dismissed
them in any way! If they are far from the Lord then it’s their doing and
not His! So, here’s the thing. Bringing ME close to GOD was and is
HIS doing! He did that! And God has no intention or even possibility
of undoing that!
God doesn’t change His mind! Malachi 3:6 says, “For I am the
Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of
Jacob.” James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is
from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom
there is no variation or shadow of turning!” Numbers 23:19 says,
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He
should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken,
and will He not make it good?” Not only is He unchanging but He is
also all-knowing and all-wise and so changing His mind is actually
impossible as that would infer that He realized some sort of mistake or
He has decided a better way than before. Impossible!
SO, God has done a thing in Jesus. He has brought Himself near to us,
as we read in Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ,” He has
brought Himself near to us and in no way will He remove Himself
from us… And I want to clear the air on a Christian concept. We have
heard many many times that when we sin, we break fellowship with
God. I want you to know that that statement does not mean that we
create some sort of physical distance with God. That in some way we
cause Him to move away from us and all of sudden because I have
sinned, (which that sin was forgiven the moment I received Jesus),
God is now far from me…
NO. Fellowship is affected. Not proximity. Fellowship is the
communion, the oneness, the sweet presence and agreement and
enjoyment of one another. That definitely suffers! But not proximity.
What God has done by His blood cannot be altered, reversed, or even
affected lest it be proven that God is not God…, because what He
does, He cannot change! Does that make sense!?
SO, what does that mean and why do I bring that up? We sell
ourselves and put away ourselves from the plan and path and will and
grace-filled blessing of God and sweet communion with God through
the Holy Spirit when we turn our back on Him and break fellowship.
Does He go anywhere ever? Not a chance! Words of God in Hebrews
13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” And this verse puts
that hope-filled reassuring and yet heartbreaking/humbling truth on
blast!
Isaiah Chapter 50 Verses 2 – 3
God says that He has arrived and He is here and He is calling and
yet no maturity being found in the called to answer Him. His desire is
to continually redeem and deliver and not only that, that’s His
character…, and yet so many so often find not the will and power to
trust Him over the test of the day… And find dried seas, wilderness
where there could and should be rivers, thirst and stinky fish! HA!
The same God that clothes the heavens WILL establish all that
concerns me as I trust in Him!
Isaiah Chapter 50 Verses 4 – 5
I want you to see that the Bible is saying that there are things that man
aspires to achieve through learning and personal scholarship and yet
they are not so much earned as they are rewarded. Isaiah says here
that, “The Lord has GIVEN Me the tongue of the learned,” and it is
God that, “awakens my ear…” He says, “The Lord has opened My
ear,” and the result is less or no rebellion against truth! Proverbs 2:6
says, “For the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge
and understanding.”
Those words in the Hebrew also mean, “perception, discernment,
mental/social skill, awareness, emotional intelligence, discretion and
insight.” There’s a reasonable thought that says the more we know the
more we know…, but a person that has given their heart to the Lord
in sincerity and humility knows more on their first day then the most
learned Christian that has ever lived that hasn’t…
And don’t miss the why… James 4:3 says, “You ask and you do not
receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your
pleasures.” The reason why God gives these things is seen in verse 4,
“That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is
weary.” If my motivation or desire is to not take care and care for
others, then why give me anything at all?
Isaiah Chapter 50 Verse 6
This verse speaks in sobering detail of the suffering of the Messiah.
Mark 15 says He was beaten, mocked and they spit on Him. Luke 22
tells us He was punched in the face. And we know from Isaiah that at
one point they plucked out His beard. The ultimate disrespect of any
Jewish male… And notice the action wasn’t really on the part of His
abusers but all that happened to Him was at His volunteering… We
read here in the beginning of this verse, “I gave…”
Isaiah Chapter 50 Verses 7 – 9
How is it that Jesus was able to endure what He did and even more, to
volunteer and proceed willingly when He had the power to stop it all
immediately? And this is helpful, because when you and I find
ourselves uncomfortable or suffering in the Spirit and we know we can
end it right now…, divorce or strike back or go off on them, find
another church, quit another job, why stay the course? Hebrews 12:1-2
says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily
ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The reward of the cross was the resurrection and the place at the right
hand of the throne of God. The place of the Advocate and the defeat of
the adversary. That was a promise given by the Father for generations
and then Jesus came not only to fulfill those promises but KNOWing
that He was the fulfillment. Trusting the Father and trusting the Word
above even His own situation. And so, He set His faced like a flint,
which means He determined in Himself to carry it through to the
end…
Isaiah Chapter 50 Verses 10 – 11
I love this! We ask people today and we wonder, “Are you a
Christian?” But who knows what that means anymore! Folks can say
they are a Christian and then believe Jesus was an angel. Folks can say
they are a Christian and then live for themselves! Are they really a
follower of Jesus Christ!? Not a chance! Here is a better phrased
question…, “Do you obey the voice of Jesus and do you fear the
Lord?” That is the Biblical definition of a Christian!
And as the suffering Savior endured what He endured, as they beat
Him and mocked Him and as He allowed Himself to be destroyed, He
knew two things. One was that this would enable men to be saved, and
two this would seal the fate of those that would reject Him. He says,
“This you shall have from My hand…,” the same one mentioned in
verse 16 of the last chapter that is inscribed with the names of all men
that have ever lived…, “You shall lie down in torment.” Only time this
Hebrew word torment is every used in the Bible. And it means regret
without repair…, sorrow without sorry, grief without relief, pain
without cure…, this is the fate of those that make themselves enemies
of Jesus Christ.