making the scriptures plain

Notes

In the Book of Revelation Jesus is called ‘the Word of God’. He is God the Son, the One who appears throughout the Scriptures. He is the voice of God that we hear.

To Isaiah Jesus gave the most beautiful prophesies concerning Himself and the way He would draw all men to Him. It is Isaiah that gives specific details about the Saviour who will come to the earth. And we can catch a glimpse of who Jesus is – His character and personality.

In Isaiah, a kingdom is promised where man shall not learn the craft of war. Instead, nations will come and learn the Lord’s ways which, from Zion, He will teach them to follow. Surely this is heaven and Jesus is king!

A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son who will be a sanctuary for some but a stumbling block for others. Who will bring honour and the light of truth to Galilee, along the road that runs between the River Jordan and the sea. A ruler who shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. From David’s throne ruling with justice for ever. Establishing this kingdom is the Lord’s passion.

This child born of the virgin shall be a descendant of Jesse the father of King David. This child shall have a Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might. He will fight the cause of the poor and meek. This child is the Word of God who will slay the wicked with the rod of His mouth, with the breath of His lips. In Him shall the Gentiles put their hope. A voice in the wilderness shall prepare the way for this child who will grow up to be the Good Shepherd, nourishing and caring for His flock..

He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right. He won’t get discouraged but will carry to completion His work of judgement, mercy and salvation. Failure is not an option for Him. He will bring forth judgment unto the truth. He will open the eyes of the blind, and bring out the prisoners and those in darkness from their prison house. Surely this is Jesus.

He is God's servant, His elect, in whom His soul delighteth. And He is God, the One and Only. He will be a light for the Gentiles. He is a mighty and strong Redeemer, for He created the heavens, stretched them out and spread forth the earth.

A wonderful example is given in Isaiah of God directing the events of the earth. Cyrus King of Persia, was named in person in the Scriptures even before he came to power. God holds the King’s right hand, though he did not acknowledge God. He armed Cyrus for the work of taming the nations, though he didn't even know Him.

Even today God is in control of this earth. He subdues nations before Him. He is the creator of the universe and we are invited to assemble ourselves together and worship Him. Isaiah presents to us the Man Jesus; born of a virgin; bringing the light of truth to Galilee; a ruler on David’s throne; passionate about the administration of justice; a good Shepherd to His people; focussed on His mission of revealing the truth and bringing salvation; guiding the nations in pursuit of this ultimate goal. What a wonderful Character we serve! I want to get to know Him better.

Jesus shall Rule the Earth

Isa.2.2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Isa.2.3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

He shall judge among the nations

Isa.2.4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Assemble yourselves and come

Isa.7.14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isa.8.14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light

Isa.9.1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
Isa.9.2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

For unto us a child is born

Isa.9.6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa.9.7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

I have made the earth

Isa.11.1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa.11.2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

Isa.11.3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
Isa.11.4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa.11.5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

He shall open, and none shall shut

Isa.11.10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
Isa.22.22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd

Isa.40.3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isa.40.5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa.40.10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
Isa.40.11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

I the LORD have created it

Isa.41.4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
Isa.41.10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Thou shalt thresh the mountains

Isa.41.15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect

Isa.41.16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa.42.1 , in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
Isa.42.2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isa.42.3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Jesus directs the Nations

Isa.42.4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Isa.42.5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

For a light of the Gentiles

Isa.42.6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Isa.42.7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

The LORD the King of Israel

Isa.42.8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isa.43.3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

And gather thee from the west

Isa.43.5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Isa.43.10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

I am the LORD

Isa.43.11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
Isa.43.12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
Isa.43.13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
Isa.43.15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
Isa.43.25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

Another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD

Isa.44.5 One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel.
Isa.44.6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

He that formed thee from the womb

Isa.44.24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

A light to the Gentiles

Isa.45.1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; <Isa.45.2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

Isa.45.3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

From the rising of the sun, and from the west

Isa.45.4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Isa.45.5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa.45.6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

He shall bring forth judgment unto truth

Isa.45.7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isa.45.8 Drop down, ye 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.

The Good Shepherd

Isa.45.9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Isa.45.10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
Isa.45.11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

I have made the earth, and created man upon it

Isa.45.12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

Isa.45.13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.

They shall come after thee; in chains

Isa.45.14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
Isa.45.15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
Isa.45.16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.

Predictions of Jesus' first Coming

Isa.45.17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Isa.45.18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Isa.45.19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
Isa.45.20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

A just God and a Saviour

Isa.45.21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Isa.45.22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isa.45.23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Isa.45.24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
Isa.45.25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Even to your old age I am he

Isa.46.4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Isa.46.9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Jesus shall Rule the Earth

Isa.48.12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Isa.48.17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.