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One-sentence summary: The Lord tells Israel not to fear, because He will redeem them, but for the wicked, there will be no peace.
"Hear now, oh Jacob, My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord Who made you and formed you from the womb, Who will help you: 'Fear not, oh Jacob, My servant.... For I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring. They will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses. One will say, 'I am the Lord's.' Another will call himself by the name of Jacob. Another will write with his hand, 'The Lord's,' and name himself by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, 'I am the first, and I am the last. Besides Me there is no God. And Who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me... and the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear nor be afraid. Have I not told you from that time and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed, there is no other Rock. I know not one... Those who make an image... are useless." Those who make idols will be ashamed together. The people who do this do not know or understand, for God has "shut their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot understand. No one considers in his heart, nor is their knowledge of understanding to say, 'Shall I fall down upon a block of wood?' He feeds on ashes. A deluded heart has turned him aside, and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'" The Lord tells Jacob and Israel to remember, because they are His servant. He has formed them, and they are His servant. He will not forget them. He has blotted out, like a thick cloud, their transgressions, and their sins like a cloud. He says to them, "Return to Me, for I have redeemed you." Isaiah says, "Sing, oh heavens! For the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break forth into singing, you mountains! Oh forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorified Himself in Israel! Thus says the Lord your Redeemer and He Who formed you from the womb, 'I am the Lord, Who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself, Who frustrates the signs of the babblers and drives diviners mad, Who turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolishness, Who confirms the word of His servant and performs the counsel of His messengers, Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited!' To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built!' And I will raise up the waste places. Who says to the deep, 'Be dry!' And I will dry up your rivers.'" The Lord says the foundation will be laid in the temple.
The Lord says to Cyrus that he is His servant. He will go before him and make the crooked places straight; He will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. He says to them, "I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, am the God of Israel... I will gird you, though you don't know Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other." He makes light and darkness. He "[makes] peace and [creates] calamity." He says, "Rain down, you heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness! Let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together! I the Lord have created it! Woe to him who strives with his Maker... Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands?' Woe to him who says to his father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, 'What have you brought forth?'" The Lord says, "Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons and... the work of My hands. You command Me." The Lord made the heavens and will raise up One in righteousness Who will build His city and let His exiles go free, but not for reward. Isaiah says, "Truly You are God, Who hides Yourself, oh God of Israel, the Savior." The idol-makers will be in confusion, but Israel will be saved by the Lord with "an everlasting salvation. "You will not be ashamed or disgraced forever and ever. For thus says the Lord Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited, 'I am the Lord. and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth.'" He did not tell Jacob to seek Him in vain. He speaks righteousness and declares things that are right. He tells the people who have escaped from the nation to draw near to Him. He says, "Look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself. The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness and will not return... To Me, every knee will bow, and every tongue will take an oath. He will say, 'Surely in the Lord, I have righteousness and strength.'" All Who are against Him will be ashamed. All the descendants of Israel will be justified and will glory.
The Lord speaks to Jacob and the remnant of Israel, whom the Lord has carried from the womb: "Even to your old age, I am He. And even to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear... I will carry and deliver you. To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me that We should be alike?" The Lord tells the transgressors to remember "the former things of old," because He is God, and there is no other, Who "declares the end from the beginning." His counsel will stand, and He will do "all His pleasure." The Lord has spoken it, and He will bring it to pass. He has purposed it, and He will also do it. He says, "Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted who are far from righteousness. I bring My righteousness near. It will not be far off. My salvation will not linger, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, My glory."
The Lord tells the "virgin daughter of Babylon" to "sit in the dust." Their "nakedness will be uncovered and their shame seen." The Lord will take vengeance and will not "arbitrate with a man." Isaiah says, "As for our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, oh daughter of the Chaldeans, for you will no longer be called 'The Lady of Kingdoms.'" The Lord says He profaned His inheritance by giving them into their hands, but they showed them no mercy. On the elderly, they laid heavy yokes. They said, "I will be a lady forever," and did not take these things to heart, so now the Lord says to those "who dwell securely, who say in their heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children:' But these two things will come to you in a moment, in one day- the loss of children and widowhood," because of their sorcery and wickedness, thinking no one sees them. He says their "wisdom" and knowledge have warped them, and they have said in their heart, "I am, and there is no one else besides me." So evil will come upon them from out of nowhere, and they will not be able to avoid it. Sudden desolation will come upon them, and no one will save them.
The Lord tells the house of Jacob to listen, those who "swear by the name of the Lord... but not in truth and righteousness." The Lord says, "I have declared the former things from the beginning. They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly, I did them, and they came to pass. Because I knew that you were obstinate... even from the beginning I have declared it to you. Before it came to pass, I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, 'My idol has done it, and my carved image and my molded image have commanded it.'" The Lord says He has made them to hear new things from this time and even hidden things. "They are created now and from the beginning, and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, 'Of course, I knew them!' Surely you did not hear. Surely you did not know. Surely from long ago, your ear was not opened. For I knew that you would deal very treacherously and were called a transgressor from the womb. For My name's sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise, I will restrain it from you so that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction for My own sake. For My own sake, I will do it. For how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another. Listen to Me, oh Jacob, and Israel, My called: I am He. I am the first. I am also the last." The Lord laid the foundations of the earth and with His right hand stretched out the heavens. He tells the people to gather together and hear. "Who else has declared these things?" The Lord has spoken, and it has not been in secret. "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, "I am the Lord your God Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea! Your descendants also would have been like the sand, and the offspring of your body like the grains of sand. His name would not have been cut off nor destroyed before Me. He says, "Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans. With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim this. Utter it to the end of the earth. Say, 'The Lord has redeemed His servant, Jacob!'" The Lord gave them waters from the Rock. There is no peace for the wicked.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
Again some of the most beautiful language in all of Scripture! So many promises for us to claim in Christ.
The Lord was the true Rock Who wanted to quench Israel's real thirst, if only they had recognized it. Let's not make the same mistake.