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See, my servant will act wisely;
    he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
¹⁴ Just as there were many who were appalled at him—
    his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being
    and his form marred beyond human likeness—
¹⁵ so he will sprinkle many nations,
    and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
    and what they have not heard, they will understand.

Isaiah 53 is a remarkable prophecy of the suffering and death of Jesus. Written more than 500 years before the Lord died, it almost feels like Isaiah stood at the foot of the Cross and was an eyewitness to the events surrounding it.

But in fact, the fourth and final ‘Servant Song’ begins at Isaiah 52:13, and then goes through to the end of chapter 53. Barry Webb says that this is ‘the jewel in the crown of Isaiah’s theology, the focal point of his vision.’ (‘Isaiah’, p.209).

The fourth song is divided into five stanzas, with three verses in each. These may be seen as a series of concentric circles. The outer circle (52:13-15/53:10-12) is about the resurrection, exaltation and enthronement of Christ. There is a story told about a preacher who kept repeating his theme throughout his Easter sermon. Over and over he said, ‘It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’!’ While the middle part of this ‘Servant Song’ is undoubtedly about ‘Friday’, it begins and ends with the affirmation of ultimate victory: ‘Sunday’s a comin’!’ The inner circle concerns Jesus’ rejection (53:1-3/7-9), while the central circle (53:3-6) is all about His substitutionary death. It is as though the whole piece is structured to draw us into the centre.

This first stanza is full of missional promise. It encourages us to expect an international impact for the gospel, with ”many” being affected by it. There will be ”kings” and ”nations” who are impacted, and in our praying we should not settle for less. It may well be that the ultimate fulfilment lies in that day when ‘every knee’ will ‘bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (Phil.2:10,11). But I believe that, even in the short term, these words can inspire and encourage us in our evangelism.

‘His truth and grace

Fill time and space;

As large His honours be,

Till all that live

Their homage give,

And praise my God with me.’ Henry Francis Lyte.

Depart, depart, go out from there!
    Touch no unclean thing!
Come out from it and be pure,
    you who carry the articles of the Lord’s house.
¹² But you will not leave in haste
    or go in flight;
for the Lord will go before you,
    the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

This, it appears, is what Ezra did: he stood on the promise of God. He said:

There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. ²² I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

There are echoes of the Exodus story here, but perhaps the contrasts are greater than the similarities. The great similarity is that God will be with them: He will go before and behind them.

Tom Hale makes the point that many of the Jewish exiles had become comfortable in Babylon. Now they were being called to return to Judah, and to a life of uncertainty and hardship. They were hesitant and fearful. He says, ‘It is the same for us when the Lord calls us to step out into new and uncertain ventures – into missions or into new ministries – let us not hold back. Let us remember that the Lord will go before us; we need not fear. We need only to obey.’ Applied Old Testament Commentary, p.1054.

Derek Kidner writes: ”…behind the literal departure from Babylon, Rev.18:4 sees a greater movement, the withdrawal of the church from the embrace and judgment of the world, ‘so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues’.” New Bible Commentary, p.662. (See also Paul’s exhortation in 2 Cor.6:14-18).

How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
    who bring good tidings,
    who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
    ‘Your God reigns!’
⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
    together they shout for joy.
When the Lord returns to Zion,
    they will see it with their own eyes.
⁹ Burst into songs of joy together,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people,
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰ The Lord will lay bare his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
    the salvation of our God.

It is significant that Paul quotes Isaiah when writing about the preaching of the gospel:

 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14,15).

Preaching the good news of the gospel involves foot and mouth. We ‘bring good news’, which implies movement: going where God sends us. Feet that take the news about Jesus are ‘beautiful’.

I am reminded of Paul writing in Ephesians 6:14,15:

‘Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.’

Also, earlier in this letter, in 2:17, he says:

‘He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.’

Paul is describing here how Jesus ‘came’, in and through His church, to preach the message of reconciliation to both Gentiles (who could be described as geographically ‘far away’) and to Jews (‘who were near’). We have again the combination of feet going and a mouth speaking.

The immediate application of the Isaiah passage has to do with the return of the Jews from Babylon to their homeland, and the re-population of Jerusalem (see also 40:9-11). God is going to completely reverse ‘Zion’s’ circumstances and all the world will see Him do it. (Note how in prophecy God sometimes speaks of something that is going to happen as if it had happened. So certain is it. This is known as ‘the prophetic perfect.’ See verses 9,10). However, this is all but a foreshadowing of that greater redemption still to come in and through ‘the Servant of the LORD’, Jesus Christ. So how fitting it is that this passage is to be followed by one in which Isaiah prophesies the suffering and glory of the Messiah.

 “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,”
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.”

‘It is only in retrospect that I can connect the dots on the timeline of life and begin to see my sacred history from God’s perspective – as God’s story of me.’ Henri Nouwen.

There are things that happen to us we would not choose. We didn’t want them to occur, and probably wouldn’t want them to come near us again. But, looking back, we know that in those times we came closer to God. We felt we were drawn into a deeper relationship with Him, and we learned to trust Him more. They were, maybe ‘the worst of times’ and ‘the best of times.’

We cannot truly say that nothing bad will ever happen to God’s people, but we can affirm that ”in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom.8:28).

One day, I believe, we will be able to see how ‘the dots’ join.

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.

Those who oppressed God’s people never owned them. They did not pay for them. They could not say they had bought them. Although Israel had been knocked about in the world, this people were always ‘my people’. Perhaps they felt valueless: ‘’sold for nothing‘ – but this was very far from the truth.

My mind turns to 1Peter 1:18,19:

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

Our redemption was not achieved by money.

In 1 Cor 6:19,20, Paul spells out some practical applications for those who are bought by Christ and owned by God:

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.

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

God let’s His people know that ‘the times they are a changin’. It is time for them to seize hold of their new destiny. As we have seen in recent days, there are things for them to do.

God’s people were still ‘captives’. But it was now time to walk free (11,12).

How many still live as prisoners even though Jesus has opened our jailhouse doors.? We are free to walk through. Like Peter, in Acts 12, we need to wake up to the reality of our deliverance.

‘This is a message for Christians today: we have been freed through Christ, yet too many of us live as if we were still in bondage to weakness, fear and sin. We need to ”rise up” and claim our freedom to live as free men and women (John 8:31-32, 36; Romans 8:2; Galatians 5:1).’ Tom Hale: Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.1053.

Shake off your dust;

For a while I noticed a film of dust on my desk. It did not dust itself! It would not and could not. It was no one else’s responsibility but mine. Eventually I got the ‘Mr. Sheen’ and a duster and, astoundingly, it did the trick!! But that dust was not going to go anywhere while I looked at it, considered it, and felt concern over it.

Oh the satisfaction, by the way, of completing the too long postponed task.

Where are the dusty areas of your spiritual life? You may similarly need to take action (relying on God’s strength of course)? They are not going to deal with themselves.

” “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5).

By the way, since the great Spring clean mentioned above, I have had to apply the duster again! Would you believe it?

Let’s face it, shaking off our dust is not a one-off event. The Christian life requires constant vigilance.

Awake, awake, Zion,
    clothe yourself with strength!
Put on your garments of splendour,
    Jerusalem, the holy city.
The uncircumcised and defiled
    will not enter you again.
² Shake off your dust;
    rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem.
Free yourself from the chains on your neck,
    Daughter Zion, now a captive.

There is no ‘let go and let God’ here.

It is clearly not a call for passivity.

It is essential that we take seriously the Bible’s verbs – it’s doing words/commands. There are so many of them in this short passage they are almost tumbling over each other.

Whenever God tells His people to do something, the inference is that His grace will be with them (us!) to enable it.

Here God is speaking to a whole community of people – a nation – and it’s important to understand that there are acts of obedience churches need to perform together. But also, we need the help and encouragement of fellow-Christians in order to follow our own pathway of faith/obedience.

What is God telling you to do at the moment?

What are you telling Him you can’t do?

Or you don’t think it’s a good idea for you?

Really?

Awake, awake, Zion…

Have you ever had one of those dreams, so awful that you actually find a way to wake yourself up. God’s people had been living through a nightmare, but in this chapter, in a number of ways, He calls on them to bestir themselves: to wake up, to rise up and lay claim to all He has for them.

‘God’s call, Awake, awake, throws back at Israel her own prayer of 51:9 in a retort which is the best answer.’ Derek Kidner: New Bible Commentary, p.662.

‘The night of trial is over, and God will do a new thing for them. This is a new day for you, so wake up to God’s blessing.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.484.

Yet this I call to mind
    and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness. (Lam.3:21-23).

 And do this, understanding the present time: the hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. ¹³ Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. ¹⁴ Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Rom.13:11-14).