By Elliot Ritzema
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 47:1-15, Isaiah 48:1-22, Isaiah 49:1-26, Isaiah 50:1-3, Psalm 23:1-6
When you’ve been disappointed, it’s hard to hope again. When you’ve suffered, it’s easy to sink into cynicism, to imagine that the way things are is the way they always will be and the only thing to do is get used to it. And when you see other people being hopeful, it’s easy to think in your heart, “Just wait. Life will disappoint them the way it has me.” Hope can seem foolish when you’ve been crushed.
The message in Isaiah 47:1–50:3 is one of hope and encouragement for God’s covenant people living in exile in Babylon. In chapter 47, we read that Babylon would fall despite its seeming invincibility. In chapter 48, we read that God was about to do something new (Isaiah 48:6) and that Israel would leave Babylon. In chapter 49, we are introduced to a Servant who is both Himself Israel (Isaiah 49:3) and is tasked with bringing Israel back to the Lord (v.5). This Servant would be a light not only to Israel but also to the whole world (v.6). The Lord’s comfort and compassion through His Servant is so wonderful that all of creation shouts for joy (v.13).
Yet we also read in verse 14, “Zion says, ‘The LORD has abandoned me; the Lord has forgotten me!’” Zion, originally the name of the mountain on which the temple sat in Jerusalem, is used in many places in the Old Testament as a personification of the people of God. And It had been a long time since these people have had any good news. They were in exile. They had been taken from their homes and subjected to a foreign power, and the grand temple where they worshiped God had been destroyed. They were given a rapturous vision of hope in these chapters, but they found it hard to believe it could really apply to them. How could anything ever change?
But while the typical way the world works will grind us down, God says that He is more loving and faithful even than the most loving and faithful humans; even if it were possible for a nursing mother to forget her child, God never would (v.15). He is also more powerful than the most powerful humans; no one can take the prey from a mighty man, but God can (vv.24–25).
How can we be sure? God has inscribed His people “on the palms of my hands” (v.16). The image is of engraving, cutting into stone. God’s people, the ones whom He loves, are permanently etched on Him. In the New Testament, the Servant spoken of in this part of Isaiah is identified with Jesus. It is He who represents God’s people and is also God Himself. When God sent His Servant to save His people, He gave hope that cuts through our disappointments. Our hope doesn’t finally rest on our circumstances but on God’s love and faithfulness. He has etched us on Himself in His Servant’s death that sets us free from sin (Hebrews 9:15), so that no matter our circumstances, He is with us now and forever.
Written by Elliot Ritzema
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