Isaiah 5.7 49-50

Prayer Requests:

Pam, Faye procedure was postponed until 31st; friend, Jo’s son had a stroke.

Carol, Jamison, continued prayers

Arlene, Christy, fever lingering, pause in chemo

Sandy, Nan and family as they grieve

Ron, Bill Walden, back

Bob’s back

Bing, praise! for Sacramento

Laura, US military

Jenny, Derek health concerns

Nan, praise God for the church

Isaiah 49:1–13 ESV

1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” 5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The servant’s calling.

Isaiah 49:1–7 presents the Servant’s calling, beginning with a summons to distant peoples to listen as the Servant declares that God called him from the womb and assigned his name.1 God equipped him with a sharp mouth and polished arrow—metaphors depicting divine preparation for his mission.1

AT this point I think it’s worth considering, who is the servant? It’s easy for us to say the servant is Jesus, but I also think we ought to consider that the servant is Israel, or at least what Israel was supposed to be. God called her from far off places, formed her, birthed her out of Egypt, prepared her in the wilderness all those years to be a light. But they fail, they labored in vain because of their sin.

Yet Jesus is the ideal Israel, He does what she could not and he bears all these same characteristics. Called by God, born in a womb, prepared, etc., honored in the eyes of God.

Initially, the Servant expresses frustration, lamenting that his labor appears empty and his strength spent for nothing.1 Yet God responds by expanding the Servant’s mission beyond restoring Jacob to making him “a light to the nations” and God’s salvation to the earth’s ends.1 The passage concludes with God’s promise that kings and princes will recognize and honor this despised, rejected servant.

This is the ministry of Christ, rejected by Jews, by Israelites, He expands his mission to the Gentiles to include all people!

The progression from Israel’s rejection to a broader mission is explicit in the passage. The Servant expresses frustration, reflecting disappointment at Israel’s failure to receive his ministry2. However, in light of Israel’s rejection of the Servant, the Servant declares the expansion of his calling to the Gentiles2. Importantly, the Lord reaffirms the Servant’s ministry to Israel despite Israel’s rejection2—the mission doesn’t shift away from Israel so much as expand beyond it.

Isaiah 49:1–13 ESV

8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.” 13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.

The Servant will fulfill God’s covenant with Israel by restoring the people to their land.1 He gathers them from nations worldwide—from north and west—and brings them home as the Servant-Messiah ushers in millennial blessings.1

The passage emphasizes the Servant’s role as liberator and provider. The Servant becomes a covenant for the people, bringing freedom for captives and light for those in darkness.2 The exiles will neither hunger nor thirst, guided beside springs of water—imagery that finds fulfillment in Jesus, who offers living water to those who come to him and presents himself as the bread of life.2

The passage culminates in cosmic celebration. All of nature responds with joy as Israel is restored to the land.1 This restoration extends beyond Israel’s immediate return from exile to encompass a universal gathering of peoples. The great return from captivity represents people from the nations streaming to Jesus in faith.

Isaiah 49:14–18 “14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 17 Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you. 18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.”

We have this wonderful, glorious declaration of the servant of God rescuing his people and all of creation breaking out into worship and then we move into Zion’s lament: “The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” This is Israel’s view of herself: desolate, empty, totally defeatist, despondent and grumbling.

A little like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Oh, there’s a great messiah of the Lord coming to save us…well I don’t know about that, maybe God has forgotten about us. Again and again we return to our central question of Isaiah: How can we have faith? How can a faithless people be saved? The Lord has given an astounding vision of his salvation and they respond: I guess God’s forgotten about us.

Is this you? Have you forgotten the good God has done in your life? Have you forgotten the firm foundation of your salvation in Jesus? Are you tempted to think: I guess God has forgotten about me.

And whether it’s ancient Israel in exile or you today in a moment of doubt, here’s how God answers, not with condemnation or shame, but with a word of comfort:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

See how strongly YHWH identifies with His people, they are His, he has claimed them, their name is written on Him.

Toy Story (ANDY)

Let’s finish the chapter—

Isaiah 49:19–26 ESV

19 “Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land— surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away. 20 The children of your bereavement will yet say in your ears: ‘The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.’ 21 Then you will say in your heart: ‘Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away, but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; from where have these come?’ ” 22 Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. 23 Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.” 24 Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? 25 For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Now, the language here is tricky, so remember the context. YHWH is talking about their rescue and restoration, now he’s talking about their desolate palces and devastated land—where or what is he referring to?

Israel, the country, the promised land, that is what has been made desolate and destroyed. But see what God says is coming: Surely now you (that is the land) will be too narrow for your inhabitants.

Do you see what He’s saying? So great will be their rescue, so great the restoration of God’s people that the land won’t be enough, it’ll be too small! So complete will the restoration of this people be that the land won’t be enough.

And he goes on to show not only the quantity of this salvation, but the quality of it. The nations will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders. Kings will be your fathers and queens your mothers, they will bow down to you and it all leads up to this great statement:

those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

You feel put to shame now, you’re in exile, you’re in a foreign country, you’re oppressed, but for all who wait on me, you will not be put to shame.

Think of this in today’s context, we live in a world that is at times hostile to Christianity, at worst, but often derides or makes fun of faith. Oh, silly Christians, believe in made up stories. Or people who say faith is just a crutch and that Christians are weak, they can’t handle the hardships and realities of life. But the believer will not be put to shame and the believer’s labor will not be in vain.

When the believer faces the greatest enemy of humanity—when we face death itself—we will not be put to shame but rather lifted into new life with Christ, with this messiah. We will be vindicated and God’s justice will be brought to bear on all of the wicked things of this world. Do you see? Our hope is not so different from those in exile.

Now let’s turn to chapter 50. Isa. 50:1-3

Isaiah 50:1–3 ESV

1 Thus says the Lord: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce, with which I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. 2 Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth their covering.”

This may feel like whiplash, but remember how Israel was reacting to the good news of God’s servant in chapter 49? Has God forgotten us…?

The chapter opens with God addressing exiles who feel abandoned, assuring them their exile resulted from their own sins, not God’s abandonment or rejection. The problem isn’t that God forgot his people; rather, when he called out to restore their relationship, no one responded. God demonstrates his power by recalling how he controlled creation itself—drying seas and darkening skies—yet Israel doubted his ability to redeem them.

He didn’t forget them, they forgot Him!