making the scriptures plain

Notes

We are learning of Jesus the Man, as His story unfolds throughout Scripture. From Genesis, with its hints of a coming Saviour, to Isaiah, who specifically cites Galilee where the Deliverer would give messages of truth. Journeying on, we discover the enlightening Gospel chronicles - Christ on earth - and finally to Revelation where Jesus discloses His role as the Immortal Conqueror in this earth’s last history.

The final eighteen chapters of Isaiah are rich in reference to the role of Jesus as Saviour of the world’s people.

Jesus would be ordained from birth to be God's servant, to restore the preserved of Israel and to be a light to the Gentiles, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth. God would give Jesus words of judgment to cut and penetrate. He would be God’s sharp arrow. At the end of His time on earth, Jesus’ work would seem useless, with nothing to show for a lifetime of labour. Yet Jesus would leave it all in God’s hand, trusting God for His reward. And indeed He has a rich reward, giving us inspiration to trust in God in the same way, even when it may seem as though God has deserted us.

Far from it. For Jesus will become God’s covenant to His people, the means by which He will reestablish the earth for them. He will bring freedom and salvation, so that the people will live in peace and plenty, led by that Good Shepherd. God will open up ways for them to come in from all the ends of the earth. Yes, His salvation goes beyond traditional concepts. It’s not just for Jews, or just for church-goers. It’s for everyone!

Christ extends tender compassion and healing to His people. He has written their names on the palms of His hands. The image of our broken defenses is always on His mind. Those who trust in Him will never be put to shame. What precious words of encouragement for us. If we repeat them over and over they will sink deep into our subconscious and transform our lives.

Jesus says that those taken captive will be released, and the plunder returned. He will fight those who fight us, and save our children. Our enemies will turn on themselves, killing each other in a frenzy of self-destruction. Then all people will know that Jesus is Lord and Saviour - the Mighty One of Jacob. And it is important for Him that everyone acknowledges Him as such.

In Jesus’ time on earth, God would be preparing Christ daily for His role as Teacher and Redeemer, each day giving Him the wisdom to comfort the weary, the understanding of His will and the desire to follow it. Jesus’ submission to His Father would be such that He would offer His back for beating and His cheeks to be spat upon. We even have a description of His face, so marred by His ordeal that he would seem hardly human - a ruined face, disfigured past recognition. Nations all over the world would be in awe, taken aback, kings shocked into silence when they see him.

And Isaiah continues with more prophetic verses. Jesus would be despised and rejected, sorrowful and grieving. Isaiah 53:5-9 explains the circumstances of Jesus’ trial and death in amazing and accurate detail. And this is what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. For the plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he would see many have life as a result. This plan will succeed beyond what we can imagine! Because he would exposed himself to death, being counted among the rebels, bearing their sins and interceding for them, he would be greatly honoured as Conqueror and Deliverer.

And so would His people, those that accept Him as their Saviour. A time will come when powerful kings and mighty nations will satisfy our every need. And we shall know that Jesus is the Lord our Saviour and Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

In chapter 61, Isaiah speaks prophetic words as though it is Christ Himself speaking. Indeed moving forward in time a few hundred years, it is Sabbath morning and as His custom was Jesus is worshipping with His fellow Jews in the synagogue. We see Christ standing up and being given a scroll to read from. He chooses this very passage to recite to the people. He announces authoritatively that the Saviour and Deliverer has come! Prophecy has met its fulfillment.

A time would come for Jesus to avenge and redeem His people, to ransom them from their oppressors. He will be amazed and appalled that there is no one to uphold the truth. So He will step in to save us with His own strong arm. His fury will sustain Him. He will crush the tyrant nations in anger and destroy them. Can we be faithful to such a Sovereign Lord who diligently seeks us out?

It’s easy to feel that the world will carry on forever. But we need to remember God's words, 'the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come'. We cannot afford to ignore the coming King. He comes with the gift of salvation.

Ordained from Birth

Isa.49.1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.

Isa.49.2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;
Isa.49.3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD

Isa.49.4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
Isa.49.5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.

Kings shall see and arise

Isa.49.6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship

Isa.49.7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.

I the LORD am thy Saviour

Isa.49.8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages;

Isa.49.9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.

They shall not hunger nor thirst

Isa.49.10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Isa.49.11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.

Yet will I not forget thee

Isa.49.12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
Isa.49.13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Can a woman forget her sucking child?

Isa.49.14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Isa.49.15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

And bind them on thee, as a bride doeth

Isa.49.16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Isa.49.17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.
Isa.49.18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

I have lost my children

Isa.49.19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
Isa.49.20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
Isa.49.21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

They shall bring thy sons in their arms

Isa.49.22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.

Isa.49.23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

The prey of the terrible shall be delivered

Isa.49.24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
Isa.49.25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

Isa.49.26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Prepared for Sacrifice

Isa.50.4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Isa.50.5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

I hid not my face from shame and spitting

Isa.50.6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

Creator Deliverer

Isa.51.12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
Isa.51.15 But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.

The foundations of the earth

Isa.51.16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Isa.52.6 Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.

His visage was so marred

Isa.52.13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
Isa.52.14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

Isa.52.15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

Jesus, Man of Sorrows

Isa.53.1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
Isa.53.2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Isa.53.3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa.53.4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

He was wounded for our transgressions

Isa.53.5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa.53.6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa.53.7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison

Isa.53.8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa.53.9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

It pleased the LORD to bruise him

Isa.53.10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

He shall bear their iniquities

Isa.53.11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa.53.12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Nations shall run unto Thee

Isa.55.4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
Isa.55.5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
Isa.58.9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

Isa.59.20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isa.60.16 Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

The LORD hath anointed me

Isa.61.1 The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

Isa.61.2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To give unto them beauty for ashes

Isa.61.3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

He was their Saviour

Isa.63.1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Isa.63.2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?
Isa.63.3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

Children that will not lie

Isa.63.4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
Isa.63.5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Isa.63.6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
Isa.63.8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

Behold me, behold me,

Isa.63.9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Isa.65.1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.