In the four “servant songs” Isaiah is painting a picture of who Jesus is, what characterized his life, and what he came to do as God’s servant. In the first song, the servant is the Spirit-filled ruler who brings justice to the nations. In the second song, he is the prophet who restores Israel and […]
Last week, we began the next section of Isaiah 40-66. In chs. 49-55, the focus is on the servant of the Lord, who would be for Israel and for the world what Israel failed to be. He would be the one chosen by Yahweh to bring faithless Israel back to their God, ending the separation […]
In Isaiah 40-66, we find God’s word of comfort and promises of salvation to his soon-to-be exiled people. After promising to raise up Cyrus of Persia to liberate Israel from Babylonian exile (chs. 40-48), the focus changes in chapters 49-55 to Israel’s greater problem of captivity to sin and their stubborn unbelief (chs. 49-55). The […]
Since Isaiah 40 we’ve been hearing God’s comforting word to his soon-to-be-exiled people. To be sure, he’s had some uncomfortable words for them as well, calling them out for their sin and rebellion and idolatry and hypocrisy. It was for these reasons they would eventually lose their temple, their city, and their land, and go […]
It has always been God’s intention to bring his blessing to the world, to fill the earth with his glory, through his people. This was why God chose Israel to be his servant. However, as we saw last week, Israel too failed to do this. But Isaiah aims to remind us of what God intended […]
In Isaiah 42, we’ve heard how the servant of the Lord would bring justice and light to the nations so that God’s praise might fill the earth. But this wasn’t currently happening. And not only were all nations not singing praise to God, even his people Israel had failed to do this. So now, Isaiah […]
In this sermon, pastor Keith walks through the text to answer the question, “Who can contend?” in two ways. First, who can contend with God? No one. Second, who can contend with this broken idolatrous world? God’s Anointed One. He answers those two questions with the two “beholds” of the text. First, “Behold, idols are […]
