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⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
⁹ All the nations gather together
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.
¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no saviour.
¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³     Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?

”God’s Spirit opens the eyes of our heart, and what was once boring, or absurd, or foolish, or mythical is now self-evidently real.” John Piper.

I was taking with a friend the other day, and he described his conversion as a definite ‘lightbulb’ moment. It was like someone flicked a switch, and the blind man suddenly saw. It was supernatural revelation.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4-6).

However, as my friend rightly pointed out, it isn’t this immediate for everyone. For some, their experience is like the gradual dawning of day: the slow, breath-taking, glorious ‘Sonrise’ in their hearts.

But however it happens, it is always a miracle of Divine revelation.

”God opens the eyes of the blind to see the truth and beauty and worth of Christ. But he does by sending people to tell the good news from hearts of love and lives of service.” John Piper.

The above quote leads us in the direction of one more theme in today’s passage, and we’ll take a brief look at it next time.

Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
    who have ears but are deaf.
⁹ All the nations gather together
    and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
    and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
    so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
    “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
    and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
    nor will there be one after me.
¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord,
    and apart from me there is no saviour.
¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
    I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.
¹³     Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
    When I act, who can reverse it?”

The very idea that there is only one God, and that He is the one and only Saviour is offensive to many in this pluralist society. We have constructed a modern ‘Pantheon’ where we want to place all religions on an equal footing. But when the only God came into the world in Jesus He said, ”I am the way and the truth and the life…” (John 14:6). Jesus didn’t claim to be a way: one among many. He declared that He is the only way to the only God there is. Somebody said that Christianity is an exclusive faith, and therefore it is an inclusive faith. If Jesus is the only way to the only God there is, then all people must get to hear about Him, regardless of their creed, colour or culture.

Certainly, there have been, and there still are, many false gods (idols) in the world. But there is only one true God and Saviour. Fulfilled prophecy is a significant pointer to His reality (9).

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

‘In verse 7, the Lord specifies who will be redeemed: ”…everyone who is called by my name.” Not every Israelite by birth could expect to be saved; most would be destroyed because of their persistent disobedience (verse 28). Paul wrote: A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly…a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly…by the Spirit (Romans 2:28-29). Those with the Spirit are the ones who are called by God’s name, who are written in God’s book of life. Those are the ones who make up the faithful remnant of Israel, who are precious and honoured in God’s sight (verse 4).’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1042.

For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your stead.
⁴ Since you are precious and honoured in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.

‘He would still, when there was occasion, make all the interests of the children of men give way to the interests of his own children’ Matthew Henry.

Derek Kidner, in the ‘New Bible Commentary’, makes the point that great nations have fallen and will fall to make way for Israel, and that ‘her ultimate ransom must be a very different victim (cf.53:5-6).’ p.658.

As Matthew Henry asks: ‘What are Ethiopia and Seba, all their lives and treasures, compared with the blood of Christ?’

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? (Ro.8:31).

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

Jesus said to His disciples plainly, ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33b). It’s not a matter of if but when. But as in the Isaiah passage, along with the prediction of difficulty there also goes the promise of something beautiful.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”

They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”

²⁵ He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

²⁶ Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!”

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, ²⁷ and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. (Daniel 3:24-27).

I am reminded of the wonderful hymn, ‘How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord? Note particularly verses 3 and 4, but it’s all good!

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

In order to live the Christian life well, we have to understand that we do not belong to ourselves. We are ‘doubly’ the Lord’s we might well say: both by creation and new creation. We’ve been ‘redeemed’ – bought back from the slave market, not with ”silver or gold”…”but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pe.1:19). We have come ‘under new management.’

This truth is a comfort to us. He will be with us in all circumstances. He takes full responsibility for His own property. He will never leave or forsake us.

But it is also a challenge. It has very practical implications for every area of our lives – including our sexuality:

 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. ¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies. (1 Cor.6:18-20).

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Ro.7:4).

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine...

…Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

It has been said that ”Fear not” is the most frequently repeated command in the Bible. Probably we need its repetition because we are so prone to fear. If we can fully grasp the implications of the gospel, we will understand that believers really have nothing to fear, not in any ultimate sense. But living as frail, flawed people in a fallen world, we are likely to have to fight in order to live fear-free. However, we are not alone in our struggle. There is a part of Zechariah’s ‘Benedictus’ that we didn’t really focus on when we read it recently:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
⁷¹ salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us—
⁷² to show mercy to our ancestors
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³     the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
    and to enable us to serve him without fear
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68-75).

Whatever God commands He also enables. If He says to do (or not do) something, He will help us, if we trust Him.

‘Fear knocked at the door; faith answered, and there was nobody there.’

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush^[a] and Seba in your stead.
⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷ everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

We’ll give certain individual parts of this section a little more attention over the coming days, but first of all I simply want to note how surprising the ”But now…” is after what we have read chapter 42:18-25. In spite of the sins of His people, God shows abundant mercy. He is determined to have a people who will be for His glory, and have them He will.

‘…the love of God, continually rebuffed, continually returns with the initiative…These verses give Israel in eloquent detail the assurance Christ gives to his church, that the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.’ Derek Kidner: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.658.

‘Now the sun, breaking out thus of a sudden from behind a thick and dark cloud, shines with a pleasing surprise.’ Matthew Henry.

And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.

Here is a prayer to pray for your children, your grand-children, your great-grandchildren, your…well, it’s a good prayer for anyone really: that they will grow and become strong in spirit. There is the possibility that this could read that John became strong ”in the Spirit”. Really, though, however you take it, it’s two sides of the same coin. A person only becomes strong in spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (Eph.3:16,17a).

Now, who are you going to pray for today?