Isaiah 52: Salvation prophesied

Scripture

² Shake off your dust;
rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
Daughter Zion, now a captive.

³ For this is what the LORD says:

“You were sold for nothing,
and without money you will be redeemed.”

⁴ For this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

“At first my people went down to Egypt to live;
lately, Assyria has oppressed them.

⁵ “And now what do I have here?” declares the LORD.

“For my people have been taken away for nothing,
and those who rule them mock,^[a]”
declares the LORD.
“And all day long
my name is constantly blasphemed.
⁶ Therefore my people will know my name;
therefore in that day they will know
that it is I who foretold it.
Yes, it is I.”

Observation

I’ve just been watching the news this morning, and heard the stories of a third Middle-East country rising up against their government – so far we’ve had Tunisia, and Egypt, and now it’s Iran’s turn. And then I read this passage which mentions Egypt and Assyria, and God’s people shaking off their captors when the LORD rescues them. I’m not going to make anything more of that than I should (the golden rule being, of course, that nothing in the Bible can mean now what it didn’t mean then), but I found it interesting to read that alongside stories of people in countries in that area shaking off their oppressive governments. Anyway, I actually particularly noticed verse 3, which talks about the redemption of Israel being completed without money – and yet, for God, who is speaking here, the cost was very high – his son’s perfect life.

Application

It’s worth stepping back sometimes and considering the cost of our salvation. For Israel, coming back to their land after the exile cost the world a whole regime change: the Assyrians had destroyed the Northern Kingdom, Babylon had taken the southern Kingdom into exile, and it was the Persians taking over from the Babylonians that enabled the Israelites to go back home. The cost in lives must have been pretty high in all those battles and wars. But one man’s life was given to redeem the whole of humanity – your life and mine are redeemed by the blood of one man who had done no wrong, and WAS God, and had no reason to die, especially in the horrific way he did (whatever else you may say about Mel Gibson, he gave us a picture of Jesus’ death in The Passion of the Christ that shows you exactly how much Jesus suffered for us, and for that I will always applaud him). So let’s not go through today without being grateful for that sacrifice, and whether we say thank you in a big way or a small one, let’s say thank you.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you so much for being willing to die for me, to eradicate my sins and enable me to come to God. And thank you that that is true for anyone reading this now – help us not to forget your sacrifice. Amen.

 

Job 41-42

Scripture:

 

Job 42:5 – My ears had heard of you 
       but now my eyes have seen you.

 

Observation:

 

Having now read through the majority of the book of Job over the past 2 months, I am increasingly warming to the interpretation of the book as an ancient morality play of some kind (especially with its reference to the two beasts towards the end in chapters 40-41, Behemoth and Leviathan, none of the interpretations for which I am totally happy with, apart from a mythological one). However, you can’t deny that, as exemplified in the verse quoted above, the book has its fair share of personal revelation for Job. At the end of this period of intense suffering, and this long discourse between him, his friends and finally Yahweh, he knows that he is closer to God than he was before, and that he has been given a gift that others do not have.

 

Application:

 

My wife has suffered from depression for several years now, and this, along with other factors, has led her to come to the conclusion that God isn’t there. It’s really hard for me to pray about this these days, but I look at Job’s journey of suffering and his maintaining his faith, and I think about the revelation he has at the end, that now his eyes have been opened to what was going on, and I can’t help but want the same thing for my wife. Sadly, she has not been able to find the strength to stand firm in her faith, but I am convinced that that is not a barrier for God, who can reveal himself when He wants to – and so I pray for the same revelation for her.

 

Prayer:

 

God, please please reveal yourself to Heidi, who so desperately needs you, as we all do. Show yourself to be the almighty God, but also the god who wants to be near her on such a personal level. Do it Lord.